CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

 

Jack shielded his eyes against the headlights as more than a dozen bikes rumbled toward him. They split up as they approached, the first group backing in beside his bike. The second group backed into the curb on the opposite side of the street, their headlights illuminating Dragon's Lair's shop front as well as the interior.

Li stood near the window, flanked by Kenny and Kai. Behind them were several other members of Li's crew.

Ignoring Li's angry glare, Jack watched riders dismount and remove their helmets. Relief washed over him when he realized each wore the 666 cut.

Traditionally in motorcycle clubs, the president rides at the front of the group. He's followed by club members in ranking order—vice president, sergeant at arms, road captain, and others in descending rank.

The club president removed his helmet and placed it on the gas tank of his bike before approaching Jack.

"You weren't going to start without us, were you, Hardcase?" Haniford asked, using the alias he'd chosen for Jack long ago because he wasn't always easy to work with.

"Wouldn't think of it," he said as more than a dozen people he knew and worked with at the department moved in his direction, every one of them having sloughed off their cop persona and were now looking like any other rough-and-ready biker. Many of them had their own bikes in the real world but had changed out personal plates for cold plates, as he should have done a week ago when he’d met Li.

Harry threw down the kickstand of her black Sportster and dismounted. With her helmet off, she shook out her short blonde hair and checked her makeup in the mirror before heading his direction. Her late partner, David Perry, had given her the nickname Duchess which she used on meets like this one.

Wash met her as they crossed the road. He drove a vintage slate-blue Panhead and went by Baller because of his time playing football with the 49ers.

Bill Waters went by Wild Bill and drove a vintage Harley police bike, now painted in dark red and white. The bike had been adapted for two riders, as Bill and his wife, Lucinda, enjoyed long weekend rides and she rode pillion. What made Jack's heart thump harder was watching Bill's passenger dismount, knowing it wasn't his wife.

Ray!

Jack had to admit his friend fit right in with the others. His dark hair was tamed down with a wide black and white bandana, he'd fluffed out his already bushy mustache, and the cut fit as if it had been made for him. Looking at his friend's badass swagger as he sauntered over, Jack wondered if he'd be able to get him onto a bike of his own someday.

"Lobo refused to sit this one out," Haniford said, using Ray's new biker moniker. Lobo—the wolf. It suited him.

Cutter strolled away from his old bobber. He went by his real title—Doc. He was responsible for the test kits when the department made drug buys.

The air in Jack's lungs instantly dissipated when he saw a tiny woman trotting toward him in a set of skintight dark-red leathers; the matching corset top pushed up her small breasts. Ruby-colored cherries hung from her ears and caught the light off the headlamps. The look on her face was like a cat who got the pigeon—Amy Chin. He knew she did undercover work, but he'd never seen her on a 666 job before. Perhaps she'd got involved since he'd been off the force. Really, he didn't care, but did care about why she was on this job.

"What's she doing here?" Jack asked Haniford.

"She insisted on coming. Said she grew up in Chinatown and speaks Mandarin and Cantonese. We can use her to interpret if it comes down to it."

Jack leaned in and murmured, "One of Li's thugs, the guy on the left," he indicated with a glance toward the shop window, "Kenny knows Amy through her brother. He got her brother Daniel a job working for Li. If Kenny recognizes her, we might as well kiss this deal, and our asses, goodbye."

"Got it. I'll keep her out here with the others and call for her if we run into any language barriers. It'll look suspicious if I send her away now."

Jack grumbled. Ignoring Chin’s grin, he glanced at the rest of the group, nodding his appreciation to each for coming out.

"We're ready to rock and roll when you are, Hardcase," Haniford said.

"Then let's dance, Prez."

As Haniford was in charge of the 666s as a department organization, he laid claim to the role as president of the club.

Haniford pointed to Harry, Wash, Ray, Bill, and Cutter to follow. He instructed the rest of the club members to keep an eye on things outside and to listen for signs of trouble from inside the shop.

Just as Kai was about to close and lock the door behind them, Chin slipped through and rushed to Jack's side. He wasn't sure whose scowl was darker, his or Haniford's, but neither said anything.

"You will explain the meaning of this," Li bellowed.

"You didn't expect me to come here alone and do a deal with you in the dark, did you?" Jack nodded toward the men surrounding Li. "And you?"

Li frowned. Had his decisions never been questioned? He jerked his head and one of the men closest to the wall reached over and turned on the shop lights. "They are here for my protection."

"And this is my protection."

"An unnecessary one. We are here to make a deal, are we not?"

"I'm not a fool, Li," Jack said, thanking God Haniford had decided to bring in backup. He hadn't wanted to do this deal on his own, but if he wanted to find Leah, going it alone was what he had to do. "We're talking about a lot of cash. Alone, what would stop one of your loose cannons from taking me out? My associates are here to prevent that from happening. We don't want to become one of your . . . disappeared."

Li looked startled. Good.

"Explain yourself," Li insisted.

Jack casually shifted his weight to one side. "You have a long reputation for eliminating those who don't agree with you. It's how you took over Chinatown. Gang war shit. Everyone knows what you did." Jack's heart pounded harder. "And we heard about what you did to those people when this shop was robbed a couple years ago."

Li's eyes narrowed. "I know of no such robbery."

Jack snorted. "Really. Armstrong led me to believe you were some kind of Chinese badass. Are you telling me he lied?"

"A mouth like his could get him, as you say, disappeared."

"Don't get your fur up, Li. He was protecting your reputation. I mean, not everyone could disappear five people in one night . . . six if you include the kid’s dog." Jack's heart leapt into his throat. Zoë wasn't just a kid. She was his child. "You ghosted all those people without a thought. Not only two of the robbers, but your own shop employee, and a woman and her baby."

"A baby?" Wash said with a deep gasp. "Man, that's some cold-hearted shit right there."

Jack gave Wash a side glance but kept his focus on Li. "Ain't it just. So forgive me for protecting my ass, and my assets." He leaned onto his other leg. "I'm curious about one thing, Li."

"What is that?"

"Where's the woman? You killed her kid and her dog, but she was never found. What happened to her? You disappeared her real good."

Li glanced beside him to Kai, whose scowl darkened. Kai said something in Chinese. Then Li asked, "What is it to you what happened to her? She's nobody."

“Curious, is all.”

"Come on, Hardcase," said Haniford. "Let's get this deal done."

Jack hated leaving without finding out what happened to Leah, but Li never denied he knew anything about what happened that night. Instead, Jack nodded and said, "It's all good, Prez. If Mr. Li here is so good with hiding people who piss him off, maybe he can handle some of our problematic associates."

Haniford crossed his arms. He gave a short grunt and jerk of his head toward Li, telling Jack to carry on.

"What do you say, Li? Are you up for some extra work?"

Li gave Jack a long look, as if sizing him up. "First we make this deal. After, if we decide to work together again, we can talk of expanding our relations." He snapped his fingers. "Sōusuǒ tāmen." Kenny and Kai instantly stepped around Li and started patting down Jack and the others.

"They're armed, Mr. Li," Kai said, stepping back, hand going to the 9mm tucked into the waistband of his black pants.

"You will remove your weapons before we continue," Li said.

"And what about your men?" Haniford asked. "You want us defenseless if your little tweaker here," he gestured to Kenny, "decides to go all Billy the Kid on us?"

"I trust my men. I do not trust yours."

"I have the same feeling about your boys," Haniford said.

"If you want to deal with the Jade Dragons, you play by our rules. Remove your weapons and give them to my associates while we talk, or . . . you are free to leave." Li shrugged as if he didn't care about the deal one way or another. "Of course, they will be returned to you when you leave."

Jack and Haniford exchanged glances. The others behind them grumbled their disapproval at being relieved of their protection, but Haniford motioned for the group to surrender their weapons anyway. Each pulled out their handgun and set it on top of a glass cabinet nearest to them. Kai nodded when he was satisfied everyone was disarmed.

When Kenny reached for the saddlebag, Jack jerked it away. "I don't think so, squit."

"You must allow my man to relieve you of all weapons," Li insisted.

"This isn't a weapon. If we come to an agreement on the drugs, you can have what's inside. Until then, it stays with me." Jack glared at Kenny. He watched to see if there was any fear in the guy. More so, he wanted to know if he recognized Chin in her getup. He hadn't even glanced her way since they'd stepped into the shop.

"Very well," Li said, motioning Kenny to back off. "Now explain who these people are. I assumed I was only dealing with you."

"I organize the buys." Jack nodded in Haniford's direction. "Our president approves all new deals. If he thinks anything about the deal is hinky—"

"Hinky," Li cut in. "What does this mean?"

"Hinky . . . makes us feel nervous, doesn't seem right, smells rotten. If Prez thinks anything smells rotten, we're out of here." Li seemed to accept this explanation, so Jack continued. "Doc here is our chemist. He'll test your product to make sure it's what you say it is."

Li scowled as much as his scar would allow him, but he didn't challenge Jack. "And what of the rest of these people? Certainly, you don't require so many people to make this deal."

"We're all here to make sure what you're selling is what our customers are buying. Lobo here focuses on our Brown market . . . the Hispanics." Jack motioned to each as he introduced them to Li. "Baller and Wild Bill sell to the Blacks. Duchess caters to the LGBTQ and similar communities around the Bay Area. Prez and I cater to everyone else." Jack hoped Li wouldn't notice he'd left Chin out of the equation, but after Kenny whispered something in Li's ear, he noticed Li's good eye narrow in her direction.

"And this one? The Asian market?" Li asked.

Jack saw Chin's cheeks pinken and wondered what that was about. There was no room for embarrassment in situations like this. To Li, he said, "We'd never step on your toes. Chinatown is yours. Japantown, Koreatown . . . All the Asian markets are yours."

"Then what is her purpose? Or is she just, how you say? Eye candy." There was as much of a sneer in his voice as on his face. Had Kenny recognized her as Daniel Chin's sister?

"She's our interpreter. Just to keep things honest. You understand."

Li stepped closer to Chin and bent to look her over. "She doesn't look like she speaks anymore Chinese than a gwáilóu reading a restaurant menu." Li’s men laughed with him.

"Nǐ xiǎng yào yīxiē ma?" Chin made erotic gestures across her body, pushing herself up on her toes to get in Li's face. Jack's heart pounded hard. If Li recognized Chin as Daniel's sister, he'd instantly know they were all cops, and all of their covers would be blown. But so far, everything remained cool. When Chin huffed and her tone became angry, Jack swore to himself if she blew this deal for them, blew his chance at finding Leah, the little bitch would never hear the end of it. "Nǐ mǎi bù qǐ wǒ de tángguǒ, lǎotóu," she spit.

As if sensing Jack's annoyance, Haniford put an arm between Chin and Li, forcing her to step back. "Put it away, Cherry," he said, glaring down at her. She pouted but stepped back in line with the others.

When Li chuckled, the scar on his face folded over on his cheek, making him appear even more grotesque. He pointed to Haniford and Cutter. "Your president and chemist may come with you. The others will wait here with my men."

"What about me? I'm the interpreter," Chin whined, looking between Jack and Haniford.

Haniford folded his arms in front of him and glared at Li. "We all have a stake in this, so we all go with you." The group behind them muttered their agreement. "We let you take our weapons so you'll let us bring our people."

For a long moment, Li glared at each person in turn before muttering in Chinese as he turned toward the back door. Kenny and Kai herded Jack and the others through the door behind Li. Several of Li's crew brought up the rear, leaving the rest in the shop to keep an eye on the street out front.

What Jack had thought was an office on his previous visit turned out to be a short hallway with two doors—one labeled 浴室 with YÙSHÌ below and a toilet symbol below that, and the other at the end of the hall was labeled 私人的 with SĪRÉN DE and PRIVATE.

Beyond this door, Jack found himself entering the shop's storage area where overstocked merchandise was kept. A wall of boxes formed a sort of privacy wall, but as Li led the group around them, Jack was surprised to see a much larger warehouse open up.

As they were led between stacks of wooden crates, all marked with Chinese characters, Jack glimpsed the butt-end of what looked like a semiautomatic assault rifle under a crate lid that hadn't been properly closed. He gave Haniford a quick eye signal and knew the LT had also seen the weapon. Given Li's reputation, weapon sales were also part of his business, like the drugs, murder, and disappearing bodies. Judging by the number of crates, this confirmed he was very much involved in the dealing of illegal firearms too.

At the center of the warehouse, a large table had been set up. A scale sat in the middle of it beside a closed black briefcase. Two of Li's thugs stood over the case, arms crossed with menacing looks on their faces and nine mils tucked into the front of their belts.

Jack eyed the case. It certainly wasn't large enough to hold his order. Probably not even the fifty K worth he'd been asked to bring with him.

Before they reached the table, Li sharply nodded to Kenny and Kai who drew their nine mils from their waistbands and aimed them at Jack.

Chin gasped as she clutched Jack’s arm.

Jack glanced around them. Several of Li’s thugs came out of the woodwork, weapons also raised.

Shaking off Chin's grasp, Jack stepped forward and demanded, "What's this all about, Li? I thought we were here to make a deal."

Li narrowed his scarred gaze at Jack. "It seems things have changed . . . police inspector Jack Slaughter."